Anderson, Curt and Marcin Morzycki. 2012. ‘Degrees as Kinds’. Ms., Michigan State University. BibTeX

This paper argues that a variety of constructions from a variety of languages suggest a deep connection between Carlsonian kinds, manners, and degrees. We articulate a way of thinking about degrees on which this connection is less surprising, rooted in the idea that degrees are Carlsonian kinds of Davidsonian states. This enables us to provide a cross-categorial compositional semantics for a class of expressions that are can serve as anaphors to kinds, manners, and degrees, and can introduce clauses that further characterize them. This puts equatives in a new light: as a special case of a cross-categorial phenomenon. Our analysis of these constructions builds on independently motivated assumptions about free relatives and type shifting. This provides evidence for a view of degrees on which they are significantly more ontologically complex than is standardly assumed.

degrees, kinds, manners, equatives, anaphora, relative clauses, cross-categorial phenomena

You can find Curt Anderson’s other work on his webpage, and Marcin Morzycki’s on his.